Madrenice is prominent city and trade center in the country of Ityian. Madrenice is not the political capital of the country, so it does not hold the Ityianese president or parliament. However, Madrenice has a governor and a local trade council that serves as the main governing body for the city. Both the governorship and seats on the trade council are chosen by election, although only human citizens are given a vote and seldom choose anyone from one of the ‘other’ species. That being said, sometimes a fae who has not been ‘found out’ can rise to a position of power in the government. Since the council lacks sufficient representation from the other species, its policies tend to be human-centric and overlook the needs and beliefs of the other groups. The Anglers have some leverage to gain favorable legislation as they can hinder sea trade, although the automata and fae do not have any such reassurances. The Anglers are internally ruled by a singular queen, although her authority is not recognised locally by the governor or trade council, nor by the greater authority of the parliament and president. The queen was put into power because of a royal bloodline established centuries ago. Mermaids who are born into this bloodline have bioluminescent markings of pink, while the other mermaids have a variety of other colors, usually a mix of several. The royal family is the only family of mermaids with a singular color in their bioluminescence. The pink bioluminescence is a dominant trait, meaning that when members of the royal family conceive children with other mermaids, the child will always have pink markings. There is some conflict within the mermaid community because of an age old dispute between two families, but despite this, the majority of the mermaids recognize their queen and abide by her wisdom. Additionally, the queen serves as an ambassador to those living on the mainland, and, with the help of human technology, she semi-regularly attends meetings with the governor of Madrenice and occasionally serves as an advisor to them when dealing with mermaid related issues. The Human's War is primarily a dispute over what country owns an area of prosperous lands in the north. The trade council is comprised of human merchants and landowners, many of whom have vested business interests in the disputed territories. As such, the council strongly backs the war. The council has invested a great deal of resources in the war effort, and published propaganda to get citizens to volunteer for the military and contribute to the war effort. There is no draft currently put in place, but the government has considered doing so if there were a lack of volunteers.
Rule of Law: (3)
Within the city of Madrenice, the trade council’s laws are backed up by a significant police force.The police force takes a strong hand in enforcing the law, and tend to be harsher to non-human citizens. Even so, local legislation imposes limits on the jurisdiction of the police, preventing them from searching buildings without probable cause or making an arrest without proof of a crime (although these laws are sometimes ignored). In addition, hidden fae who have risen to higher offices in Madrenice’s law enforcement structure and police chief quietly help keep equality, administering discrete solicitude in times of racial tension. In addition, even though the [trade council] desires to keep its control over the city, the external threat of the war has a higher priority over then internal policing. Besides, the current level of enforcement has been sufficient to keep the citizens in line so far and the [trade council] has no reason to believe that will change anytime soon. Because the police work predominantly on the surface, the queen has collaborated with Madrenice’s governor to employ mermaids as an additional police force. A team of trained mermaids patrol the waters and ensure the peace is kept. The merfolk of Madrenice have a culture and rule of law entirely separate from that of the surface-dwellers. As previously stated, their community is ruled by a singular queen, and although she is not recognized by the government of the humans, fae, and automata, the merfolk still consider her word far more valuable than anyone else’s. For the most part, she is a benevolent and wise ruler, leading her community with grace and earning the respect and admiration of all of her subjects. However, despite being a separate government from the surface government, the Mermaid Queen supports the region-wide discouragement of interspecies relationships, especially due to the fact that her entire community is female and predominantly lesbian. While this usually doesn’t pose a problem, there have been rare cases of mermaid-fae and mermaid-human relationships, and if a child is born out of those relationships, the offending mermaid is exiled from the underwater community and forced to live her life elsewhere, be it in solitude beneath the water or on land with the help of magic and prosthetics.
Social Services: (1)
The trade council has invested an exceptional amount of money in the military: securing transportation for troops, manufacturing and inventing new weaponry, along with securing supplies for the soldiers (including food and clothing). The [trade council’s] military spending uses up most of what the council takes in in taxes, and majority of what remains goes into maintaining the trade council and central bureaucracy. As a result, there is an extensive lack of funding for the libraries, parks, hospitals, and education systems within the city, but has yet to become an issue worth solving and will most likely continue to be a backburner problem until the war is over. Because of this, many of the public services of the Madrenice region have become accustomed to a more self-sufficient method of raising their own money through various fundraisers and sponsored performances when needed. Though the majority of people from Madrenice understand why there is a lack of funding for social services, they aren’t pleased with the government’s over-spending on military and its obsession with war. There are rumors of a movement growing to demand change, but there haven’t been any action taken as of yet. Many of the community buildings go through a seasonal sort of “natural selection”, where their upkeep is prioritized based on how much foot traffic and daily use they see. While communities and boroughs do a decent job of providing for their inhabitants, and after years of war have learned not to look up when it comes to taking care of themselves, the most popular places for outside trade and communication, such as the docks, still receive noticeably better care than the rest of the public areas since the governing leaders of Madrenice are concerned with keeping up a “professional appearance” in front of outside powers.
Economics:
Economic Strength: (4)
Madrenice is well-known for having a great deal of economic strength and capability when it comes to the trading industry and working with foreign powers. In the end, even though the economy has taken a hit from funding the war, the economic state is stable for a majority of the local population. A combination of trade with outside countries and internal technological developments and commerce allow Madrenice to sustain itself despite the financial drain of warfare. Madrenice’s economic strength is a reflection of the booming economy of Ityian as a whole. The country of Ityian is one of the richest in the surrounding areas, providing more trade and exports than most. Similiarily, Madrenice is one of the more successful cities within the country, even supplying more trade than the capital city, the majority of which are military-related technology.
Wealth Distribution: (1, Trending Up)
Unfortunately, the majority of the money and goods earned through the thriving trade economy go straight into the military forces, causing the wealth distribution of Madrenice to be severely lacking. On top of the distribution issues between the military and other community groups (e.g., libraries, schools, hospitals), there is also a disparity in the way wealth is distributed between classes. In Madrenice, you are born into a “glass ceiling” of sorts based on your species, with humans making up a majority of the upper class.This state of affairs has been universally accepted (albeit begrudgingly) despite how limiting it can be for certain members of society for most of Madrenice’s history. However, while humanity is preoccupied by the conflict, this may change. The members of the middle class have begun to rally for more equality in class and in species, and a civil movement seems to be on the rise as the fae and self-aware automata collaborate to reach higher positions in both business and social standing. Some fae who have disguised themselves as human for the majority of their lives have already secured themselves upper-class positions due to their false appearance, and use this to their advantage to serve as the “inside men” for this movement. The inhabitants of the water, however, are not particularly involved in any of the class disparities of the surface-dwellers, but have been known to support the fae when asked because of their commonalities in religion and their mutual appreciation for aesthetic and design. Though the majority of those hoping to spark change in the classes of Madrenice are non-humans, there are quite a number of humans involved in the fight as well. An underground group of sorts has been formed recently to advocate and raise the platform of non-human individuals.
Agriculture and Trade: (4)
Due to their status as an economic trade capital, Madrenice sees a wealth of trade between both neighboring cities and distant ones, and prior to the war, had prominent trade even with other countries. Trade flows into the city both through the city’s main port and the main trade road that primarily handles intra-country trade. However, being in the midst of a long and costly war has taken a toll on the inter-country trading, but making up the difference has been made possible by instead relying on the trade between surrounding cities. Even with the decrease in foreign trade, the county has acquired minerally rich lands and mineral mines earlier in the war. The “agricultural center” of Madrenice is a commerce center with two main exports--overland tech and underland tech. On the surface, the working class citizens manufacture various mechanical parts for boats and cars, which are both functional and state-of-the-art. They also design and mass-produce some personal assistant automata for overseas trade, shipping them out to allying countries and cities with high demand and interest in their creations. Below the surface, the anglers and various merfolk work to harvest conch shells, pearls, and other aesthetically-pleasing treasures from the depths of the ocean. Contrasting the functional trade of the surface dwellers, the merfolk create pieces of art with beauty at the forefront, opting for a trade that focuses more on decorative exploration than everyday purpose. Sculptures, collages, mosaics, and jewelry are just a few of the artistic paths the merfolk have explored, and in the last few decades, they have even begun to harvest bioluminescent bacteria in jars and other containers of water to sell as unique, decorative “lamps”. These lamps appeal to a wide variety of consumers due to their one-of-a-kind appearances, as colors and patterns differ from jar to jar, and their lifespan of over ten years without exposure to direct sunlight, double that if they are used on the surface where sunlight is more common. Additionally, human researchers as well as some merfolk have been working together recently to find a way to develop the merfolk’s bioluminescence into technology. Not only does the glow from the bioluminescence provide an aesthetic appeal to certain gadgets, the bacteria can also be used in weaponry. Though, admittedly, these pieces of technology are merely in the prototype phase.
Cultural Influences:
Military Influence: (5)
Ityian is fighting a war in the north with a neighboring country over Copioso, a section of territory claimed by both states. Ityian currently has control of around two-thirds of the region and has been profiting off the areas bountiful agricultural land and rich metal veins. A great portion of Madrenice’s current wealth comes from this land so the upper class do not want to give it up. At the same time, the council also wants to claim the remainder of the territory that is currently under enemy control. Most of the support for the war comes from the humans and automata. For the other inhabitants of Madrenice, the war is seen as “the Humans War”, especially since the ‘lesser’ species will not experience any of the increased wealth that would be gained if Ityian wins. As a result, species such as the Fae and Angler do their best to distance themselves from the conflict. While certain Automata are outfitted for battle, those who remain in the service industry dissociate themselves, as these technologically more advanced Automata are met with dirty looks. With this war, propaganda is seen commonly around the public spaces of the city as the trade council struggles to recruit soldiers and allocate more resources for the ongoing conflict. Currently, the trade council has been able to field enough soldiers through voluntarily recruits mostly from the Human and Automanta populations. Although if the war continues, and they run out of volunteers, the council might have to perform a forced draft, something the inhabitants of Madrenice fear deeply.
Religious Influence: (2, Trending Up)
Historically, the humans have been very vocal and almost imposing with their religion. The human religion recognises a singular godly craftsman who the humans thought created existence. But with the government involved in the war, smaller religions have taken to becoming more visible with the decreased risk of oppression. The anglers and fae share an extensive polytheistic belief system that they have mostly practiced in secret to avoid prosecution. Although, the anglers put more emphasis on the god(s) of sea and weather, where as the branch focuses more on the spiritual and its ties to their magic. The automata, being created by humans have typically followed the human religion. However, in the desire to define themselves as free-willed beings separate from humanity, some automata have started trying to redefine their religious beliefs, and make their religious system their own. Some of the automata have begun following a more extreme member of their community, who believes that they (gender-neutral, singular) are “chosen”. Though the following is quite small, the word is spreading about this “chosen” automata, and many are curious, though skeptical, to see who they are, and what plans they have to provide more equality for all automata.
Technology Influence: (3)
Mardrenice relies mainly on digital and cybernetic technology. The city has been integrating a digital communication system with internet and cell phones. Electric cars and boats make up the primary forms of transportation. There few with cars capable of flight, but these machines are still in the early phases of development. With the vast majority of the money going to the war, technicians are lacking the funding and resources to develop the next wave of transportation. The traditional clockwork automata designs have been mostly being replaced by cybernetic models. However, some clockwork automata and other clockwork devices remain in production for two main reasons. First of all, clockwork is perceived as elegantly old-fashioned and tasteful by Mardrenice’s ruling elites. Secondly, humans believe that the presence of clockwork inhibits fae magic, which is why modern-day fae are not able to work the more powerful magics their species that they were said to possess before the industrial revolution.
Arts & Culture: (3, Trending Up)
While humans tend to be the most politically active, with strong ties to the war, other species are content with turning inward to their communities and their strong cultures. Because of the variety of species in the city, the arts are a strong sense of identity for some, used as a means to rise above any prejudice against their species. Races like the Angler are seen as a mysterious and articulate species, with the majority of their habitat being underwater. Their bioluminescent markings are seen as an indicator of their lineage, with some of the oldest and most royal families bearing beautifully intricate pink markings. The Anglers are wise and quiet disposition comes from their intelligence, sense of unity, and well documented history of themselves as a species.
Arts to the Anglers come naturally and their appreciation for natural beauty shows in more ways than one. While a lot of the art produced by the Anglers and merfolk is used for trade with the humans, they have a strong sense of culture and continue to produce art for fun. In the Angler world, art is a very important part of their culture, and jewelry design, seashell painting, and performative dance are taught at a young age. Additionally, the Anglers are shown how to forge weaponry and fight when they are children. Not because they expect to be drafted into the Human War, but because of a centuries old fear that one day they will be attacked and subjugated.
The Fae tend to be more neutral to the arts, finding true beauty in the gift of their own magic and nature. Despite this, there are a select few who participate in the arts, creating intricate designs with their magic, and only selling them within their own community. Because magic is seen as a negative by the humans, the fae tend to keep it to themselves.
Automata, especially the artisan, take pride in the crafting of themselves to better suit the aesthetics and function of their craft. Because the automata are predominantly used as human servants, they find no need in trading their works of art, and solely use their skills to improve themselves.
Magic: (2)
Among the species of Madrenice, the Fae are the only group that shows an ability to wield magic. This leads the humans and some of the automata to shun them out of fear and mistrust for the powers they wield. In turn, the Fae resent the authority of the humans as they believe their magic should give them the right to rule. Until recently, the Fae have remained silent and have accepted the mistrust of the humans with minimal argument, despite their belief that they should be in power; however, with the government’s reckless spending on the Human’s War, a day may soon come where the Fae decide enough is enough.
There are old stories of Fae creating storms, changing seasons, and turning entire kingdoms to stone, however no fae born in the last 2000 years or so have displayed this level of power. For them most part magic is used by the Fae to disguise their appearances, break or mend technology, or heat or cool substances, and occasionally for artistic purposes.
However, this faint thread of power does not come without cost. In return for being able to wield magic, the Fae find that they are incapable of breaking promises, and they get sick if their promise is violated or broken by factors outside their control.
Social Relations:
Racial/Species Equality: (2, Trending Up)
As one of largest economic centers in the country, Madrenice contains numerous members of the various species that populate the land. The humans are the most dominant species in the city, making up about around 60% of the population while the remaining 40% is split between the Fae (20%), Mermaids (15%), and Automata (5%).The humans take on most governmental roles, along with serving as merchants, and the upper management in most businesses. The humans profit from the resource rich lands that the kingdom is fighting the war over, and are the greatest supporters of the war effort. The humans in Madrenice tend to have lightly tanned skin tones due to the amount of sunlight in the area. They don’t trust those with lighter or darker skin tones, particularly those with paler skin similar to their longtime enemy.
The automata are a species of mechanical beings created by the humans to act as servants. Appearance wise, the automata were designed to reflect their creators. Their skin, unlike that of humans however, is made of tech, whether it be clockwork of cybernetics. They walk and move like regular humans, though it is easy to tell the difference because of their physical appearance and the slight “off-ness” that can be seen when they move. The automata’s visual receptors are similar to the eyes that humans have, and their “mouths” are voice-boxes that produce a mechanical sounding voice. The automata tend to work in service roles such butlers, secretaries, waiters, and anything else that requires good social interaction, that humans do not want handle themselves. The automata are theoretically not slaves though they are regulated to service roles that provide less pay. Since the automata are meant to be ideal servants, and they are designed to be aesthetically pleasing and reflect the tastes of their creators. The automata are grouped into main categories the ‘artisan’ automata which are primarily clockwork with a more stylized design, and the ‘modern’ automata which are primarily cybernetic. The modern automata see themselves as greater as they use more modern technology and are designed to be more physically effective. The ‘artisan’ automata believe they are more elegant and traditional, and think the weight of age and history outways the “new and improved” design of the ‘modern’ automata. In any case, the automata are supposedly loyal to their human creators. However, they are capable of free-will and want to be more than mere tools to another species.
Madrenice’s canals are home to the Anglers, a species of mermaid that originated from the dark depths of the sea. The Anglers are an amphibious, mono-gendered species. The mermaids do not have magic like the Fae, but they do share a telepathetic link, and if two mermaids decide to, they can be “linked” and able to communicate telepathically. Besides this form of communication, the mermaids can also speak through their mouths like the Fae and humans do, but some chose a more direct and intimate path through the mink links. Because they are comprised of only females, the mermaids have formed lesbian relationships (though, there have been a few who have lusted after human/Fae men from the shores). Reproduction amongst the mermaids is done through asexual reproduction. Their skin is usually pale blue or grey, they also have bioluminescent markings and fins, a holdover from their deep sea heritage. There is a slight tension between those with pale blue and gray skin, though this rift has mended itself for the most part since a rebellion of sorts occured in the previous century. The Angler’s bioluminescent markings are the result of genetics. When different families mix, the colors on the children’s skin mix as well. Over time, the result is a patch work of colors that glow brightly, almost like rainbow lights. The only family to present a single bioluminescent color is the royal family, as stated previously, whose skin is marked with pink. Although they can travel on land, they tend to keep to themselves, staying in the canals, but they get along decently with the Fae. The humans are off put by their mysterious nature and find their bioluminescence unsettling, so the relation between the two species is less than ideal. The Anglers mainly work in jobs surrounding the canals or the sea. Common jobs include acting as maintenance workers on the canals and the submerged architecture of the city, boatswoman, and fisherwoman. Additionally, some find work creating the jewelry and trinkets used to trade with the humans. The Anglers are mostly fine with their role as long as others leave them alone, but some of the younger members of the species want to try something new.
The final species are the Fae. All fae have limited magical ability, which gains them the distrust of the humans. However they get along okay with the Automata and Anglers, and they use their magic to help keep some of the old Automata running, and share religious beliefs with the Anglers. The Fae fear being judged by the other species, and that the humans would conscript them into their war if they show “useful enough” magical abilities. As a result, most Fae use their magic to pass for human and hide their true nature. Those who get caught tend to end up in the jobs no one else wants. Although the Fae are considered a single species, they are the most diverse in appearance ranging from fair (by human standards) to foul, and from short to tall. The Upper Fae tend to all be conventionally beautiful by human standards and look down on the Lesser Fae. The Lesser Fae think the Upper Fae are too influenced by human values. Either way, all the Fae can agree that they should be in charge given their magic abilities, and are bitter that the humans rule the city.
The humans invested most of their wealth and many voluntarily enlist themselves in the army. The war has been going poorly, and there has been an increased need for soldiers. With so many humans going off to war, there are not enough humans to hold the positions typically held by humans in the city. The government of Madrenice has decided to auction off the positions to members of the other species, expecting that the Automata, Anglers, and Fae will be replaced by human workforce when the everyone starts returning from the war. However, the non-humans are becoming more comfortable with their new positions, and are not so willing to give them up.
Class Equality: (3)
Despite the drastic wealth disparities among the different species. There is hardly any class conflict, or at least what conflict there is mostly overshadowed by the more pronounced racial and species inequalities. For the most part, the non-human species are comfortable enough with their positions in society, and those who aren’t are preparing for the turning tides. With the help of some open-minded humans, the non-humans are looking to promote a more equal society.
Gender Equality: (5, Trending Up)
There is also not much gender inequality in Madrenice. For the humans, Automata, and Fae, male and female members of the species hold the same sorts of positions. The Automata are not fundamentally gendered although they tend to assign themselves genders, whether it be male, female, or nonbinary, based on preference. The Automata are not too concerned with gender or sexuality and tend to be the most genderfluid of the four species. Unlike the other species, the Anglers are mono-gendered and cannot tell the difference between the different genders of other species. For the most part, they do not see why anyone makes any distinction on the matter.
Sexual Orientation Equality: (2)
Although, Madrenice has strong gender equality, the local society has strong sense of who they can and cannot have sexual relationships with. The humans and Fae both insist only hetrosexual relations are proper, but of course there are some who disregard this and are not opposed to other forms of relationships (though this open-minded population is small). Additionally, the majority of humans believe that sex and other acts of intimacy should only be engaged with a singular life-long partner after marriage. In Madrenice society, the worst sexual ‘sin’ one could engage in is to have a sexual relationship with someone of a different species. Usually such relationships between variant species cannot produce children, but certain magics can allow members of separate species to have offspring, and a Fae willing to perform this type of magic is rare. A child of such a union is shunned by all species, and would not be allowed to work in any capacity within the city of Madrenice. Within species like the Anglers and Automata, sexual orientation is a non-issue. Automata aren’t capable of reproduction and do not necessarily have a sexual drive. Anglers, being mono-gendered, have, for the most part, never considered sexuality important. But, like the humans and the Fae, the Automata and Anglers agree that there should be no interspecies relationships.
Table of Contents
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Governance:
Government Presence: (4)
Madrenice is prominent city and trade center in the country of Ityian. Madrenice is not the political capital of the country, so it does not hold the Ityianese president or parliament. However, Madrenice has a governor and a local trade council that serves as the main governing body for the city. Both the governorship and seats on the trade council are chosen by election, although only human citizens are given a vote and seldom choose anyone from one of the ‘other’ species. That being said, sometimes a fae who has not been ‘found out’ can rise to a position of power in the government. Since the council lacks sufficient representation from the other species, its policies tend to be human-centric and overlook the needs and beliefs of the other groups. The Anglers have some leverage to gain favorable legislation as they can hinder sea trade, although the automata and fae do not have any such reassurances.The Anglers are internally ruled by a singular queen, although her authority is not recognised locally by the governor or trade council, nor by the greater authority of the parliament and president. The queen was put into power because of a royal bloodline established centuries ago. Mermaids who are born into this bloodline have bioluminescent markings of pink, while the other mermaids have a variety of other colors, usually a mix of several. The royal family is the only family of mermaids with a singular color in their bioluminescence. The pink bioluminescence is a dominant trait, meaning that when members of the royal family conceive children with other mermaids, the child will always have pink markings. There is some conflict within the mermaid community because of an age old dispute between two families, but despite this, the majority of the mermaids recognize their queen and abide by her wisdom. Additionally, the queen serves as an ambassador to those living on the mainland, and, with the help of human technology, she semi-regularly attends meetings with the governor of Madrenice and occasionally serves as an advisor to them when dealing with mermaid related issues.
The Human's War is primarily a dispute over what country owns an area of prosperous lands in the north. The trade council is comprised of human merchants and landowners, many of whom have vested business interests in the disputed territories. As such, the council strongly backs the war. The council has invested a great deal of resources in the war effort, and published propaganda to get citizens to volunteer for the military and contribute to the war effort. There is no draft currently put in place, but the government has considered doing so if there were a lack of volunteers.
Rule of Law: (3)
Within the city of Madrenice, the trade council’s laws are backed up by a significant police force.The police force takes a strong hand in enforcing the law, and tend to be harsher to non-human citizens. Even so, local legislation imposes limits on the jurisdiction of the police, preventing them from searching buildings without probable cause or making an arrest without proof of a crime (although these laws are sometimes ignored). In addition, hidden fae who have risen to higher offices in Madrenice’s law enforcement structure and police chief quietly help keep equality, administering discrete solicitude in times of racial tension. In addition, even though the [trade council] desires to keep its control over the city, the external threat of the war has a higher priority over then internal policing. Besides, the current level of enforcement has been sufficient to keep the citizens in line so far and the [trade council] has no reason to believe that will change anytime soon. Because the police work predominantly on the surface, the queen has collaborated with Madrenice’s governor to employ mermaids as an additional police force. A team of trained mermaids patrol the waters and ensure the peace is kept.The merfolk of Madrenice have a culture and rule of law entirely separate from that of the surface-dwellers. As previously stated, their community is ruled by a singular queen, and although she is not recognized by the government of the humans, fae, and automata, the merfolk still consider her word far more valuable than anyone else’s. For the most part, she is a benevolent and wise ruler, leading her community with grace and earning the respect and admiration of all of her subjects. However, despite being a separate government from the surface government, the Mermaid Queen supports the region-wide discouragement of interspecies relationships, especially due to the fact that her entire community is female and predominantly lesbian. While this usually doesn’t pose a problem, there have been rare cases of mermaid-fae and mermaid-human relationships, and if a child is born out of those relationships, the offending mermaid is exiled from the underwater community and forced to live her life elsewhere, be it in solitude beneath the water or on land with the help of magic and prosthetics.
Social Services: (1)
The trade council has invested an exceptional amount of money in the military: securing transportation for troops, manufacturing and inventing new weaponry, along with securing supplies for the soldiers (including food and clothing). The [trade council’s] military spending uses up most of what the council takes in in taxes, and majority of what remains goes into maintaining the trade council and central bureaucracy. As a result, there is an extensive lack of funding for the libraries, parks, hospitals, and education systems within the city, but has yet to become an issue worth solving and will most likely continue to be a backburner problem until the war is over. Because of this, many of the public services of the Madrenice region have become accustomed to a more self-sufficient method of raising their own money through various fundraisers and sponsored performances when needed.Though the majority of people from Madrenice understand why there is a lack of funding for social services, they aren’t pleased with the government’s over-spending on military and its obsession with war. There are rumors of a movement growing to demand change, but there haven’t been any action taken as of yet.
Many of the community buildings go through a seasonal sort of “natural selection”, where their upkeep is prioritized based on how much foot traffic and daily use they see. While communities and boroughs do a decent job of providing for their inhabitants, and after years of war have learned not to look up when it comes to taking care of themselves, the most popular places for outside trade and communication, such as the docks, still receive noticeably better care than the rest of the public areas since the governing leaders of Madrenice are concerned with keeping up a “professional appearance” in front of outside powers.
Economics:
Economic Strength: (4)
Madrenice is well-known for having a great deal of economic strength and capability when it comes to the trading industry and working with foreign powers. In the end, even though the economy has taken a hit from funding the war, the economic state is stable for a majority of the local population. A combination of trade with outside countries and internal technological developments and commerce allow Madrenice to sustain itself despite the financial drain of warfare. Madrenice’s economic strength is a reflection of the booming economy of Ityian as a whole. The country of Ityian is one of the richest in the surrounding areas, providing more trade and exports than most. Similiarily, Madrenice is one of the more successful cities within the country, even supplying more trade than the capital city, the majority of which are military-related technology.Wealth Distribution: (1, Trending Up)
Unfortunately, the majority of the money and goods earned through the thriving trade economy go straight into the military forces, causing the wealth distribution of Madrenice to be severely lacking. On top of the distribution issues between the military and other community groups (e.g., libraries, schools, hospitals), there is also a disparity in the way wealth is distributed between classes. In Madrenice, you are born into a “glass ceiling” of sorts based on your species, with humans making up a majority of the upper class.This state of affairs has been universally accepted (albeit begrudgingly) despite how limiting it can be for certain members of society for most of Madrenice’s history. However, while humanity is preoccupied by the conflict, this may change. The members of the middle class have begun to rally for more equality in class and in species, and a civil movement seems to be on the rise as the fae and self-aware automata collaborate to reach higher positions in both business and social standing. Some fae who have disguised themselves as human for the majority of their lives have already secured themselves upper-class positions due to their false appearance, and use this to their advantage to serve as the “inside men” for this movement. The inhabitants of the water, however, are not particularly involved in any of the class disparities of the surface-dwellers, but have been known to support the fae when asked because of their commonalities in religion and their mutual appreciation for aesthetic and design. Though the majority of those hoping to spark change in the classes of Madrenice are non-humans, there are quite a number of humans involved in the fight as well. An underground group of sorts has been formed recently to advocate and raise the platform of non-human individuals.Agriculture and Trade: (4)
Due to their status as an economic trade capital, Madrenice sees a wealth of trade between both neighboring cities and distant ones, and prior to the war, had prominent trade even with other countries. Trade flows into the city both through the city’s main port and the main trade road that primarily handles intra-country trade. However, being in the midst of a long and costly war has taken a toll on the inter-country trading, but making up the difference has been made possible by instead relying on the trade between surrounding cities. Even with the decrease in foreign trade, the county has acquired minerally rich lands and mineral mines earlier in the war. The “agricultural center” of Madrenice is a commerce center with two main exports--overland tech and underland tech. On the surface, the working class citizens manufacture various mechanical parts for boats and cars, which are both functional and state-of-the-art. They also design and mass-produce some personal assistant automata for overseas trade, shipping them out to allying countries and cities with high demand and interest in their creations. Below the surface, the anglers and various merfolk work to harvest conch shells, pearls, and other aesthetically-pleasing treasures from the depths of the ocean. Contrasting the functional trade of the surface dwellers, the merfolk create pieces of art with beauty at the forefront, opting for a trade that focuses more on decorative exploration than everyday purpose. Sculptures, collages, mosaics, and jewelry are just a few of the artistic paths the merfolk have explored, and in the last few decades, they have even begun to harvest bioluminescent bacteria in jars and other containers of water to sell as unique, decorative “lamps”. These lamps appeal to a wide variety of consumers due to their one-of-a-kind appearances, as colors and patterns differ from jar to jar, and their lifespan of over ten years without exposure to direct sunlight, double that if they are used on the surface where sunlight is more common. Additionally, human researchers as well as some merfolk have been working together recently to find a way to develop the merfolk’s bioluminescence into technology. Not only does the glow from the bioluminescence provide an aesthetic appeal to certain gadgets, the bacteria can also be used in weaponry. Though, admittedly, these pieces of technology are merely in the prototype phase.Cultural Influences:
Military Influence: (5)
Ityian is fighting a war in the north with a neighboring country over Copioso, a section of territory claimed by both states. Ityian currently has control of around two-thirds of the region and has been profiting off the areas bountiful agricultural land and rich metal veins. A great portion of Madrenice’s current wealth comes from this land so the upper class do not want to give it up. At the same time, the council also wants to claim the remainder of the territory that is currently under enemy control. Most of the support for the war comes from the humans and automata. For the other inhabitants of Madrenice, the war is seen as “the Humans War”, especially since the ‘lesser’ species will not experience any of the increased wealth that would be gained if Ityian wins. As a result, species such as the Fae and Angler do their best to distance themselves from the conflict. While certain Automata are outfitted for battle, those who remain in the service industry dissociate themselves, as these technologically more advanced Automata are met with dirty looks. With this war, propaganda is seen commonly around the public spaces of the city as the trade council struggles to recruit soldiers and allocate more resources for the ongoing conflict. Currently, the trade council has been able to field enough soldiers through voluntarily recruits mostly from the Human and Automanta populations. Although if the war continues, and they run out of volunteers, the council might have to perform a forced draft, something the inhabitants of Madrenice fear deeply.Religious Influence: (2, Trending Up)
Historically, the humans have been very vocal and almost imposing with their religion. The human religion recognises a singular godly craftsman who the humans thought created existence. But with the government involved in the war, smaller religions have taken to becoming more visible with the decreased risk of oppression. The anglers and fae share an extensive polytheistic belief system that they have mostly practiced in secret to avoid prosecution. Although, the anglers put more emphasis on the god(s) of sea and weather, where as the branch focuses more on the spiritual and its ties to their magic. The automata, being created by humans have typically followed the human religion. However, in the desire to define themselves as free-willed beings separate from humanity, some automata have started trying to redefine their religious beliefs, and make their religious system their own. Some of the automata have begun following a more extreme member of their community, who believes that they (gender-neutral, singular) are “chosen”. Though the following is quite small, the word is spreading about this “chosen” automata, and many are curious, though skeptical, to see who they are, and what plans they have to provide more equality for all automata.Technology Influence: (3)
Mardrenice relies mainly on digital and cybernetic technology. The city has been integrating a digital communication system with internet and cell phones. Electric cars and boats make up the primary forms of transportation. There few with cars capable of flight, but these machines are still in the early phases of development. With the vast majority of the money going to the war, technicians are lacking the funding and resources to develop the next wave of transportation.The traditional clockwork automata designs have been mostly being replaced by cybernetic models. However, some clockwork automata and other clockwork devices remain in production for two main reasons. First of all, clockwork is perceived as elegantly old-fashioned and tasteful by Mardrenice’s ruling elites. Secondly, humans believe that the presence of clockwork inhibits fae magic, which is why modern-day fae are not able to work the more powerful magics their species that they were said to possess before the industrial revolution.
Arts & Culture: (3, Trending Up)
While humans tend to be the most politically active, with strong ties to the war, other species are content with turning inward to their communities and their strong cultures. Because of the variety of species in the city, the arts are a strong sense of identity for some, used as a means to rise above any prejudice against their species. Races like the Angler are seen as a mysterious and articulate species, with the majority of their habitat being underwater. Their bioluminescent markings are seen as an indicator of their lineage, with some of the oldest and most royal families bearing beautifully intricate pink markings. The Anglers are wise and quiet disposition comes from their intelligence, sense of unity, and well documented history of themselves as a species.Arts to the Anglers come naturally and their appreciation for natural beauty shows in more ways than one. While a lot of the art produced by the Anglers and merfolk is used for trade with the humans, they have a strong sense of culture and continue to produce art for fun. In the Angler world, art is a very important part of their culture, and jewelry design, seashell painting, and performative dance are taught at a young age. Additionally, the Anglers are shown how to forge weaponry and fight when they are children. Not because they expect to be drafted into the Human War, but because of a centuries old fear that one day they will be attacked and subjugated.
The Fae tend to be more neutral to the arts, finding true beauty in the gift of their own magic and nature. Despite this, there are a select few who participate in the arts, creating intricate designs with their magic, and only selling them within their own community. Because magic is seen as a negative by the humans, the fae tend to keep it to themselves.
Automata, especially the artisan, take pride in the crafting of themselves to better suit the aesthetics and function of their craft. Because the automata are predominantly used as human servants, they find no need in trading their works of art, and solely use their skills to improve themselves.
Magic: (2)
Among the species of Madrenice, the Fae are the only group that shows an ability to wield magic. This leads the humans and some of the automata to shun them out of fear and mistrust for the powers they wield. In turn, the Fae resent the authority of the humans as they believe their magic should give them the right to rule. Until recently, the Fae have remained silent and have accepted the mistrust of the humans with minimal argument, despite their belief that they should be in power; however, with the government’s reckless spending on the Human’s War, a day may soon come where the Fae decide enough is enough.There are old stories of Fae creating storms, changing seasons, and turning entire kingdoms to stone, however no fae born in the last 2000 years or so have displayed this level of power. For them most part magic is used by the Fae to disguise their appearances, break or mend technology, or heat or cool substances, and occasionally for artistic purposes.
However, this faint thread of power does not come without cost. In return for being able to wield magic, the Fae find that they are incapable of breaking promises, and they get sick if their promise is violated or broken by factors outside their control.
Social Relations:
Racial/Species Equality: (2, Trending Up)
As one of largest economic centers in the country, Madrenice contains numerous members of the various species that populate the land. The humans are the most dominant species in the city, making up about around 60% of the population while the remaining 40% is split between the Fae (20%), Mermaids (15%), and Automata (5%).The humans take on most governmental roles, along with serving as merchants, and the upper management in most businesses. The humans profit from the resource rich lands that the kingdom is fighting the war over, and are the greatest supporters of the war effort. The humans in Madrenice tend to have lightly tanned skin tones due to the amount of sunlight in the area. They don’t trust those with lighter or darker skin tones, particularly those with paler skin similar to their longtime enemy.The automata are a species of mechanical beings created by the humans to act as servants. Appearance wise, the automata were designed to reflect their creators. Their skin, unlike that of humans however, is made of tech, whether it be clockwork of cybernetics. They walk and move like regular humans, though it is easy to tell the difference because of their physical appearance and the slight “off-ness” that can be seen when they move. The automata’s visual receptors are similar to the eyes that humans have, and their “mouths” are voice-boxes that produce a mechanical sounding voice. The automata tend to work in service roles such butlers, secretaries, waiters, and anything else that requires good social interaction, that humans do not want handle themselves. The automata are theoretically not slaves though they are regulated to service roles that provide less pay. Since the automata are meant to be ideal servants, and they are designed to be aesthetically pleasing and reflect the tastes of their creators. The automata are grouped into main categories the ‘artisan’ automata which are primarily clockwork with a more stylized design, and the ‘modern’ automata which are primarily cybernetic. The modern automata see themselves as greater as they use more modern technology and are designed to be more physically effective. The ‘artisan’ automata believe they are more elegant and traditional, and think the weight of age and history outways the “new and improved” design of the ‘modern’ automata. In any case, the automata are supposedly loyal to their human creators. However, they are capable of free-will and want to be more than mere tools to another species.
Madrenice’s canals are home to the Anglers, a species of mermaid that originated from the dark depths of the sea. The Anglers are an amphibious, mono-gendered species. The mermaids do not have magic like the Fae, but they do share a telepathetic link, and if two mermaids decide to, they can be “linked” and able to communicate telepathically. Besides this form of communication, the mermaids can also speak through their mouths like the Fae and humans do, but some chose a more direct and intimate path through the mink links. Because they are comprised of only females, the mermaids have formed lesbian relationships (though, there have been a few who have lusted after human/Fae men from the shores). Reproduction amongst the mermaids is done through asexual reproduction. Their skin is usually pale blue or grey, they also have bioluminescent markings and fins, a holdover from their deep sea heritage. There is a slight tension between those with pale blue and gray skin, though this rift has mended itself for the most part since a rebellion of sorts occured in the previous century. The Angler’s bioluminescent markings are the result of genetics. When different families mix, the colors on the children’s skin mix as well. Over time, the result is a patch work of colors that glow brightly, almost like rainbow lights. The only family to present a single bioluminescent color is the royal family, as stated previously, whose skin is marked with pink. Although they can travel on land, they tend to keep to themselves, staying in the canals, but they get along decently with the Fae. The humans are off put by their mysterious nature and find their bioluminescence unsettling, so the relation between the two species is less than ideal. The Anglers mainly work in jobs surrounding the canals or the sea. Common jobs include acting as maintenance workers on the canals and the submerged architecture of the city, boatswoman, and fisherwoman. Additionally, some find work creating the jewelry and trinkets used to trade with the humans. The Anglers are mostly fine with their role as long as others leave them alone, but some of the younger members of the species want to try something new.
The final species are the Fae. All fae have limited magical ability, which gains them the distrust of the humans. However they get along okay with the Automata and Anglers, and they use their magic to help keep some of the old Automata running, and share religious beliefs with the Anglers. The Fae fear being judged by the other species, and that the humans would conscript them into their war if they show “useful enough” magical abilities. As a result, most Fae use their magic to pass for human and hide their true nature. Those who get caught tend to end up in the jobs no one else wants. Although the Fae are considered a single species, they are the most diverse in appearance ranging from fair (by human standards) to foul, and from short to tall. The Upper Fae tend to all be conventionally beautiful by human standards and look down on the Lesser Fae. The Lesser Fae think the Upper Fae are too influenced by human values. Either way, all the Fae can agree that they should be in charge given their magic abilities, and are bitter that the humans rule the city.
The humans invested most of their wealth and many voluntarily enlist themselves in the army. The war has been going poorly, and there has been an increased need for soldiers. With so many humans going off to war, there are not enough humans to hold the positions typically held by humans in the city. The government of Madrenice has decided to auction off the positions to members of the other species, expecting that the Automata, Anglers, and Fae will be replaced by human workforce when the everyone starts returning from the war. However, the non-humans are becoming more comfortable with their new positions, and are not so willing to give them up.
Class Equality: (3)
Despite the drastic wealth disparities among the different species. There is hardly any class conflict, or at least what conflict there is mostly overshadowed by the more pronounced racial and species inequalities. For the most part, the non-human species are comfortable enough with their positions in society, and those who aren’t are preparing for the turning tides. With the help of some open-minded humans, the non-humans are looking to promote a more equal society.Gender Equality: (5, Trending Up)
There is also not much gender inequality in Madrenice. For the humans, Automata, and Fae, male and female members of the species hold the same sorts of positions. The Automata are not fundamentally gendered although they tend to assign themselves genders, whether it be male, female, or nonbinary, based on preference. The Automata are not too concerned with gender or sexuality and tend to be the most genderfluid of the four species. Unlike the other species, the Anglers are mono-gendered and cannot tell the difference between the different genders of other species. For the most part, they do not see why anyone makes any distinction on the matter.Sexual Orientation Equality: (2)
Although, Madrenice has strong gender equality, the local society has strong sense of who they can and cannot have sexual relationships with. The humans and Fae both insist only hetrosexual relations are proper, but of course there are some who disregard this and are not opposed to other forms of relationships (though this open-minded population is small). Additionally, the majority of humans believe that sex and other acts of intimacy should only be engaged with a singular life-long partner after marriage. In Madrenice society, the worst sexual ‘sin’ one could engage in is to have a sexual relationship with someone of a different species. Usually such relationships between variant species cannot produce children, but certain magics can allow members of separate species to have offspring, and a Fae willing to perform this type of magic is rare. A child of such a union is shunned by all species, and would not be allowed to work in any capacity within the city of Madrenice. Within species like the Anglers and Automata, sexual orientation is a non-issue. Automata aren’t capable of reproduction and do not necessarily have a sexual drive. Anglers, being mono-gendered, have, for the most part, never considered sexuality important. But, like the humans and the Fae, the Automata and Anglers agree that there should be no interspecies relationships.<-- 5 -->